Nitish Kumar’s ‘Dus Hazaar’ cash transfer frenzy sweeps Bihar ahead of elections

In poll-bound Bihar, the buzzword on everyone’s lips these days is “Dus Hazaar” (ten thousand). The phrase has quickly become part of daily conversations as thousands of women, mostly from poor households, rush to banks, block offices, cyber cafes, and online shops in the hope of receiving a cash benefit of Rs 10,000 directly into their bank accounts.

The frenzy follows the launch of a new welfare scheme by the NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar earlier this month. Since the second week of September 2025, women have been running from one application centre to another to enroll themselves as beneficiaries under the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana (Chief Minister Women’s Employment Scheme). The scheme, announced ahead of the crucial November Assembly polls, aims to provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000 to 2.77 crore women across the state. It promises that one woman from every family in Bihar will receive the aid.

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The eligibility rules are minimal: the applicant and her husband must not be income-tax payees. This effectively ensures that women from socio-economically weaker and marginalised backgrounds stand to benefit most from the scheme.

Frenzy over cash transfer

“Never before has Bihar witnessed such a rush of women to banks and cyber cafes. The frenzy began soon after Nitish Kumar announced a direct cash transfer of Rs 10,000 for women,” remarked a clerk at a public sector bank.

A branch manager of another bank echoed the same experience, pointing out the scale of the rush. “Every day, dozens of women come to either open new accounts or complete KYC formalities to reactivate their old ones. In this branch alone, no fewer than 50 new women’s bank accounts are being opened daily. Imagine the number of accounts being created across hundreds of other branches,” he said.

At cyber cafes, too, the demand is overwhelming. Rahul Kumar, who runs a small cafe, described the sudden surge: “In just the past week, hundreds of women have visited my shop and other nearby online centres to fill applications. And the crowd is only increasing. Since Friday, when many women received the first installment of Rs 10,000 in their bank accounts, the craze has intensified. Most of them are poor and often illiterate, but they are determined to claim this benefit from the government.”

First installment rolled out

According to officials from Jeevika, the World Bank–supported rural livelihood programme and the nodal agency for implementing the scheme, more than 1.5 crore women in Bihar have already submitted applications. Still, over 1 crore women are yet to apply.

On Friday (September 26), Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly initiated the transfer of Rs 10,000 to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women out of the targeted 2.77 crore beneficiaries. The remaining 2.2 crore women are expected to receive their payments in the first week of October and later. This marks the first installment of financial assistance under the scheme, Rs 10,000 transferred via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), with a much larger payout of Rs 2 lakh promised six months down the line.

Hope amid daily struggles

Not surprisingly, there is an air of excitement and relief among those who have already received the money, as well as among the many still waiting. Several women said the financial support could not have come at a better time, especially with the festive season underway.

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“I am poor, working as a domestic maid in Patna, earning barely Rs 5,000 a month. It is a struggle to run the household. If I get this financial support, I want to start a small business so that I can earn more and live a decent life,” said Shakila Khatoon, 32, a mother of four young children. Her husband abandoned the family three years ago, leaving her to shoulder all responsibilities alone.

Shakila, who lives in Naharpur, a slum in Phulwari Sharif on the outskirts of Patna, recounted the effort she had to make just to apply for the scheme. Now, she waits eagerly for the transfer to reach her account. “I am happy that soon I will get Rs 10,000. I want to use it to buy a handcart and start selling vegetables and fruits,” she said.

Caught in the debt cycle

But there are also women like poverty-stricken Lakshmi Devi, Minu Devi, Kunti Devi and Sushma Devi, who are far less enthusiastic, as they are reeling under a debt trap. They represent thousands of women who have taken loans from locally operating microfinance companies, some to start small businesses, others to pay for a husband’s medical treatment, children’s education, or the marriage of a son or daughter. “I am struggling every month to repay the loan I took from a microfinance company. If I receive Rs 10,000 under this scheme, it will go directly towards repayment, nothing else,” said Sushma, a resident of Danapur, who has applied for the scheme but admits she cannot feel excited about it.

Sushma pointed out that a significant number of women linked with Jeevika remain caught in the debt trap created by microfinance companies. “Instead of announcing this scheme, the so-called double-engine NDA government at the state and Centre should have declared a waiver of our loans from these companies,” she argued.

Lakshmi Devi, who lives in a village under Punpun block in Patna district, questioned the very idea of starting a business with such a small sum. “How can anyone begin a meaningful livelihood activity with just Rs 10,000, especially in this time of soaring prices?” she asked. In her view, the timing of the scheme raises suspicion. “It looks like the government is handing out cash only to secure votes in the coming election. But that is not possible, we will vote according to our own choice,” she asserted.

Minu Devi, whose husband has remained jobless ever since falling seriously ill two years ago, was equally sceptical about the government’s claims. She dismissed the much-publicised promise that women would be able to launch self-employment activities with this support. “This is nothing more than an election gift to women. With such a meagre amount, it is impossible to start any work that can sustain a family,” she said.

Loans keep women shackled

Research and field reports back such concerns. Several studies have shown that a large number of poor women in Bihar remain heavily dependent on microfinance companies, which often exploit their vulnerability in the name of providing loans. With no institutional alternatives available, women are left with little choice but to borrow from them. Local Hindi newspapers have frequently reported cases of debt-trapped women facing intimidation and harassment, including agents threatening them with punitive action and even the prospect of being sent to jail.

Women’s activist Kanchan Bala said that poor and lower-middle-class women are under mounting stress due to the growing burden of microfinance debt. “The government’s much-hyped Rs 10,000 cash transfer to women is not going to solve the microfinance crisis,” she remarked.

Meena Tiwari, who leads the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) and works closely with women trapped in the debt cycle, underlined how deeply entrenched the problem has become. She pointed out that the size of Bihar’s microfinance business has increased from Rs 6,000 crore in 2020 to Rs 49,500 crore by 2023, according to available data. “This is a glaring example of the mounting microfinance debt that directly impacts women. These companies charge exorbitant rates of interest on loans, which only pushes women further into distress,” she explained.

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CPI (ML) MLC Sashi Yadav, who has repeatedly raised the issue of women’s indebtedness in the state Assembly, argued that Nitish Kumar’s Rs 10,000 scheme would not achieve its stated goal of promoting self-employment. “A large number of women are already trapped in debt. Unless the government announces a waiver of old microfinance loans, such schemes will ultimately amount to zero,” she said.

A potential ‘game changer’

A political observer called the scheme the most attractive pre-poll offer ever made to women in Bihar, noting that a direct cash incentive of Rs 10,000 could be a “game changer.” With 3.5 crore women voters, half of the electorate, women remain a decisive force. In 2020, they outvoted men in 167 of 243 constituencies, particularly in the Kosi–Mithilanchal belt, where the NDA’s lead helped it return to power.

That election, however, exposed JD(U)’s weakness: it won only 43 of 115 seats, while the BJP secured 74 of 110, with Chirag Paswan’s LJP blamed for JD(U)’s poor strike rate.

Still, Nitish retains strong backing from women, built over the years through empowerment policies like free bicycles for schoolgirls, 35% job reservation in government jobs, prohibition enforced at women’s demand, 50% reservation in panchayats and urban bodies, and support to 1.4 crore Jeevika Didis in self-help groups.